Another bike ride, another “treasure” on the Lakefront…
Apparently, at some point during the fall last year, there was some roof repair work
done on the terra cotta tile roof at Promontory Point along the lakefront.
But what a nice surprise to see that someone had a “vision” and decided to create
some art instead of just throwing away the old shingles?! So cool to find random surprises
like this along the lake. And even cooler that no one has messed with it, taken it or ruined it!
Kinda restores your faith in humanity… and creativity, no?

Today was a beautiful day.
Even better once I got out on my bicycle…. dust it off… pump up the tires…
It’s been a long time coming… but biking season is finally here!!!
Let’s hope the nice weather stays this time…

The above artwork is a beautiful bricolage project that was completed last summer
by a group of local city artists and kid’s groups. It is under Lake Shore Drive at Bryn Mawr.
It’s a huge mural project that covers spans the entire width of Lake Shore Drive along both
sides of Bryn Mawr Avenue. It’s made up of a large collection of mosaic tiles, mirror shards,
as well as ceramic pieces created just for the installation. It even includes images & historic
items embedded in the artwork for all to enjoy. Rumor has it, they’re going to do the same
thing this summer to the Foster Street underpass too!

Spice it up with textures & tiles…
and trying to combine the two into new salt & pepper shakers!

So I’ve been working on a new batch of shakers that combine the textures
of my tiles, the soda fired colors & flashing – with the functionality of
salt & pepper shakers! They’re still in the works… with trays to come!

Once the shakers are built, I’m applying a thin coat of soda slip on some
of them to give them different colors & flashing effects to be created in the
soda firing atmosphere. Seen below before & after…

Tiles… tiles.. and more tiles!
I spent last night making a lot of tiles in the studio… more than I had planned!
Each tile is handmade from a slab of fresh clay. Each tile is textured by hand
creating one-of-a-kind tiles that will later be put together into hanging
wall pieces or installations. My sister has “requested” a wall installation
for her living room between some cabinets, around the wall mounted television.
So I’m back in production mode – making a lot of tiles! Many of them will be used
for her wall installation, while others will get to travel on the summer art fair circuit.

This batch will be for the soda kiln, so not only were they textured,
most of them are also covered with a layer of soda slip which will help give them
different colorations in the final glaze firing. So now they need to dry, then be
bisque fired. When I get ready to do my next soda firing, they will all need to be wadded
individually, as well as given a quick wash of dissolved soda solution and some get
a minimal spraying of glaze for a splash of color. A lot of work for a little tile, huh?
Now multiply that by hundreds of tiles…